Back in the day Southeast Portland was king. Especially in and around the Hawthorne District. Real estate prices then as well as now drove the market in Southeast. Meanwhile the Northeast suffered. In general the homes were principally the same. In fact it could be argued that the architecture in Northeast was Superior to the Southeast.
Well it makes sense given that in the early years of the founding and settling of Portland the high ground was in North and Northeast Portland. The Southeast on the other hand was prone to flooding from the Willamette River. Hence the more affluent tended to settle in the Northeast.
Portland Oregon has sure come along way since its early settlement days of 1845 and subsequent Incorporation in 1851. Flash forward to the Late 20th Century and early 21st Century and we find fully developed residential neighborhoods.
Recently though there has been a shift in values. As mentioned above Southeast Portland had enjoyed a much stronger value than the Northeast. But as Prices continued to rise people hoping to move into the Inner Southeast where the Hawthorne District mainly lies found that they were being quickly priced out of the market.
The solution for many of these Buyers was to take a chance on Inner Northeast Portland where renovations and revitalization had begun in earnest in the Late 80's and really began to take full swing in 1991. Those first few years were astounding. I can remember passing up homes that were available for $10,000. only to regret those choices a few short years later when prices were well into the $100,000 to $150,000 for the same home in the same condition.
So when did this change happen? Funny as it seems even today I hear from prospective Buyer's when calling about a home in the inner Northeast " I hear this is an up and coming neighborhood " I just laugh as I remember that is what we thought Back in the Day. And we were right. The change though of prices happened in 1993 between the months of August and September.
Southeast Portland enjoyed an edge over Northeast Portland of $133,000 to $93,700 as an average Sales price. The following Month in September Northeast Portland recorded an average sales price of $100,100. while Southeast Portland dropped to $95,300. Part of this big drop can be attributed to the large number of renovated homes that came on the market in Northeast Portland at that time. Out of all of the Buyers waiting to buy most went to the Northeast while the Southeast's numbers suffered.
Northeast Portland has never looked back. Today shows the numbers for August 2009 average sales price for the Northeast at $278,100 while Southeast stands at $239,900. The Hawthorne District in the Southeast continues to help lead the way in prices and desirability, perhaps one day we will see the shift again.
As an interesting side note North Portland in August of 1993 had an average sales price of just $67,000 and today is at $240,800 eclipsing Southeast Portland as well.
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